Equipment for shipbuilding



Aug. 7, 1945.

Hell.

F. R. HARRIS EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPBUILDING I v Original Filed March 19,1943 4 shts-sheet 1 rs/rm) Bea ark flaw/cl:

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t EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPBUILDING Qz iginal Filed March 19, 1945 4Sheets-Sheet 2 lime/vars.

Aug. p: F. R. HARRIS EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPBUILDING Original Filed March-l9, 1945 4 Sheets-Shet 3 giro/Mira.

F. R. HARRIS EQUIPMENT FOR SHIPBUILDING Aug. 7, 1945.

Original Filed Mafoh 19, 1943 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 m f f r 4 m Patented Au7,1945

3 Y QEQ IPMENTFOR sHrPBum-DI- G Q I I I I I Frederic RLHar-ris, NewYork,.N."Y.,,assignoi-c to ew;Jgrsey Shipbuilding Corporation, Bjarben.

. il-r e u r fieno N wJer firiginabapplicationMarch 19; 1943, Seri'al-No.

taken through the way rails and sh'owing an end elevatic'n of one of"the cradles and a full-width:

This-invention names to ship -buil'ding and ship-building equipment bywhich' a-n'umber of ships canbe constructed simultaneouslyonconstinu'ous ways; a I

.One object of; the invention is to provide an improvedmethod' ofconstructing ships; the-ships being built on cradles thataremovabl'ealong way railsil In the assembly of ships inaccordance" with-thismethod', a number ofhull's areunderconstruction -simultaneously atdifferent places along the ways, so that each shipon the ways when itsconstruction has'progressed to- 'fin-a stage is ready to b'efioatedi.-Anther:object ofthe-inven'tion is to provide ansimproved'l method formoving ships from-- the-- ways: into-1 the water. 7 In accordance withthis feature of the invention, ships-- are constructed on" ways, whichmay. .be horizontal instead ofinclined' inrthe .usual. manner, and theship istransferred from the horizontal. ways to-a floating dry dock,After the. transfer, the floating dry dock is moved out from shore; andsubmerged sufiicientl-y to cause the'ship' to float,

its broadestaspects, the method of transferring the ship to the floatingdry dock is not 'lirnitedto theremoval of a-shipfrom ways.' It

maylbeisaidtherefore, that; it is, another object of t e, invention toprovide an improvedmethod for/transferring. a conveyance from a track onI shore to "another tracli onasupporting carrier l ss f I Y [Ano' h raspect (of, thejinvention relates to shipyard" equipment includingcontinuous; ways 'for ships in"'v'ai"ious stages of construction, and

cradles on therways,for'su-pporting the ships and for moving them alongthe ways. Other objects, features and advantages of the invention'willappear or be pointed out as the speci'flcation'proceeds In' th'edrawings, forming part hereof, in

spending parts in all the views:

' I is" a side elevation showing continuous ways-supporting a number "ofcradl'es with ships inconstruction, and, showin a fioating' dry dock attheend'of the ways in position for receiving a completed hull;

F u e 2 is an end view'showmg t P pairs of ways and showing rails withcranes for placing prefabricated ship sections on the cradles; 1 v Q IFig'ureBds a'plan'view, on a reduced scale,

showings; shipyard with equipment forconstructing-ship's-"in accordancewith this invention;

ns re 4 isan enlarged detail sectional view" --4=7 9-,733 Divided andthis application October? portion of a ship supported on the cradle'iFigure 5 is a top-planview, on a-reduced 'scaley ofthe front section ofthecradle' shown-inFigure 'Wit'hO1'1t a-shi'pi' Figure '6 is a; thecradle;

Figure '7 is 'a top plan view, on a reducedscale;- showing sectionsconnected together to forma composite cradle; and illustrating theapparatus for movingthe cradle along theways;

Figures 8 andQ'areenlarged detail views show- I ing the constructionofthe way rails, Fig1 1re' -9'- illustrating themanner in which a cradleis jacked to overcome its initial starting inertia?" Figure 10" is aside elevation of the structure shown in'Figure 9; g Figures 1-1 and 12'are sectional views taken along thelinesl'l l-l' and l2-'- l2respectively of Figure, 10

Figure 13 is an" end' view of the clry'do'ck with 1 ways locatedyabovethe dry'dock deck, and" showing the subaqueous structure by whi-ch thedry dock is supported at the correct level for transfer ofa cradle fromthe ways on shore to the ways on the dry dock;

Figure 14 is a top plan view of the dry deck shown" in Figure 13, andthe slip by which the dry dock is held in alignment with the ways onshore;

Figure 15 is an enlarged detail viewshowing oneofthe way rails onthe drydock and thee structure by which it is supported; and

'40 'which like"reference characters denote. corre- Figure 16 is anenlargedsectional view through one of the way rails and cradle runnerswith connectingmeans for preventing movement of the cradle runner alongthe way rail.

Figure 1 shows continuous ways 20, which in the illustrated embodimentare horizontal and extend slightly beyond the shore line '2 l ,ithewaterendlof the'ways 20 being supported on piling 22. The. ways 2n arelong enough to support a number of separate cradles 24 on which shiphulls 26 are built, and are preferably not inclined but horizontalinstead.

Sections of the hulls 26 are prefabricated away from the ways 20"andassembled on the cradles 24, whichare first lined up on the ways 20.Figure 1 shows, for example, the first cradle at the left with a singlesection thereon; the other cradleswhich are movablealong the ways,illustrating hulls in more advanced stages. The ships'are builtsimultaneously, and as each ship is completed; it" must be moved on itscradle as plan view of another-section of v floating dry ,dock 21includes a slip for aligning the dry dock with the shore ways 20, and asubaqueous supporting structure 29 that is under the dry dock 21 and onwhich the dry dock rests When it is partially flooded. The supportingstructure 29 is at such a level that when the bottom of the dry dock 21rests on these supporting means, the ways 28 of the dry dock are atexactly the same level as the shore ways 20. This method of positioningthe floating dry clock 21 has the advantage that the level of the drydock is not affected by the tide, and it is not necessary to have anybridge connecting the shore ways with those on the floating dock.Further, all guesswork, trial and adjustment are eliminated.

As previously pointed out, this feature of. the invention by which theway rails on the floating dry dock are brought into register with theway rails on shore is not necessarily limited to shipyards. If means areprovided for partially floating the pontoons of barges that carryrailway cars, and a subaqueous structure provided on which the pontooncan rest, the same method as used in this invention for transferring aship cradle from shore ways to a floating dry dock can be employed forshifting freight cars from tracks on shore to tracks on a barge or otherfloating vessel.

Since the floating dry dock 21 is in use for a comparatively smallportion of time, greater eflie ciency can be obtained by having othercontinuous ways 20' (Fig. 2), and using, the same floating dry dock 21to take ships from both of the ways 20 and 20'. This can be done mostefficiently if the work on the respective ways 26 and 26 is scheduled sothat the ships become ready for transfer to the water at differenttimes.

Figure 2 shows the ways 20 and 20' supported on suitable foundations 36and 36' respectively. There are railway tracks 3| and 32 extending alongthe ways. In Figure 2 these tracks support cranes 33 that are used tobring sections into position for connection with'the already-completedortions of the bulls 26.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a shipyard showing the parallel ways 20and'20, and the railway tracks 3| and 32. Other tracks are shown forbringing the cars into position for unloading at the various locationsat which ships are being constructed. Because of the small scale ofFigure 3, the cradles on the ways 26 and 26 are not illustrated, andonly one of the hulls 26 is indicated. It will be evident, however, thatcars can be moved along the track 34 and stopped for unloading at thedifferent regions where hulls are under construction.

A side track 36 is provided for returning the cars so that there need beno interruption in the flow of material to the various locations alongthe ways 20 When empty cars have to be returned. Various other tracksand side tracks are cradles, the arrangement of tracks in Figure3 makesit possible to bring two cranes into position for unloading suchsections from a flat car.

Figure 4 shows the construction of the ways 20 with foundations 36connected together by cross-ties 40. Each of the way rails 4| comprisesa supporting rail 42 and a guide rail 43 rigidly connected to thesupporting rail 42 by fastening means, such as bolts 44. The way railsare preferably constructed of timber.

, The cradle 24 has heavy timber runners 46 that bear on the supportingrails 42. The runners 46, on opposite sides of the cradle 24, areconnected by cross-beams 41 that are rigidly connected to the runners bybolts 48. Blocks 49 mounted on the cross-beams 41 of the cradle, supportthe weight of ship hull 26. Auxiliary blocks 50 and wedges 5| are usedas fillers between the supporting blocks 49 and the bottom of the shiphull 26, in a manner Well understood in the ship-building art. 4

The runners 46 slide longitudinally along the top surfaces of thesupporting rails 42, and the guide rails 43 prevent transversedisplacement of the runners 46. The guide rails 43 are preferably on theinside of the way rails 4|, and the forward end of the runners 46 havecurved surfaces 53 (Fig. 5) for preventing the runners 46 from catchingon the ends of successive guide rail sections after interruptions in theguide rail or at joints where the sections are not in perfect alignment.

Figure 5 shows diagonal bracing 54 connecting the runners 46 on oppositesides of the cradle 24 to give greater rigidity to the cradle. Thebracing 54 comprises metal tie rods that extend through the runners 46and through blocks 56 on the outer sides of the runners. This diagonalbracing 54 i merely illustrative of the cradle-reinforcing braces, thenumber and size of which depend upon the size of the cradle.

There are eye bolts 51 at the forward end of the cradle 24 for pullingthe cradle along the ways. In order to provide a strong connectionbetween the eye bolts 51 and the runners 46 of the cradle, blocks 58,best shown in Figure 8, are recessed into the outer sides of'the runners46, and the eye bolts 51 extend through the runners 46 and through theblocks 58. An angular face at the rearward end of each of the blocks 58extends at right angles to the axis of the eye bolt 51 and provides asurface against which the eye bolt nut 59 can clamp a washer 60 for moreuniform distribution of the pulling stress.

The cradle 24 is preferably made in sections. Figure 5 shows the firstsection, and Figure 6 shows a subsequent section. The cradle sectionshown in Figure 6 is essentially the same as the forward cradle sectionof Figure 5, except that it does not have the rounded end surfaces 53 orthe eye bolts 51. In Figure 6 the forward ends of the runners 46 areshaped to extend between splice plates 62 that are used to connect thedifferent sections together to form a long, composite cradle. Theintermediate sections of the cradle are usually not provided withdiagonal bracing, such as the bracing 54 of Figure 5, since theseintermediate cradle sections are braced by the other sections at bothends and are not subject to such heavy distorting stresses.

The splice-plate connections between adjacent sections of the cradle aresimilar to the fish plate connections between railroad rails, therebeing splice plates on both sides of the runners 46 and bolts 63extending through the end portions of the runners and clamping thesplice plates 'securely against the sidesurfaces of the runners.

Figure 7 showsa full length cradle made up of five se ti s i c u i anend section-65' similar to the end section shown in Figure threeintermediate sections 66,-similar to the cradle section shown inFigure-6, and a rearward end section 61.- The splice -.plates connecting1 different sections=are indicated by the reference characters 62. Therearwardend "section Bl is similar in that'the forward endsofthe-runners of section 61 are shapedfor connectionwith splice plates 62.

-...The-rrearward--cradlesection GIhas eye bolts 51 to which cables 68-are connected for pulling the 1 compositecradle ='along the ways. Othercable's'68 are connected with the eye bolts 5'I'of the forward-section65, and allot, the cables 68' connect with a common center cable 69.Turn buckles-; or other means, are providedfor ad? justing the length ofcertain of the cables "61 so that"th'e pull-f the central cable 69 istransmitted substantially evenly to all of the cables 68. In this waypulling force is applied equally to both the forward and rearward cradlesections 65 and '61, and the pull on the splice plates 62 is reduced.

The central cable 69 passes around a pulley 12 which is held in place bycables 13 connected to stationary eye bolts 14. fastened to the way.

7 After passing around the pulley 12, the central. cable 69 leads .to acrane or other means'capable of exerting a continuous pull on the cable69 during movement .of the cradle for a considerable distance.

The force required to overcome the initial inertia andstart the movementof a loaded cradle along the ways is much larger than the force requiredto keep the cradle moving. In order that the mechanism for pulling thecable 69 need not be strong enough to overcome, this initial startinginertia, other means are provided for starting the movement of thecradle. Such other means preferably comprise jacks that push against therearward-ends of the cradle runners.

Figure 9' shows a jack 16 thatpresses against a metal cap ll on therearward end of the cradle runner 46. The purpose of the cap 11 is toprevent the jack 16 from spreading and splitting V the end of. therunner 46. The jack I6 reacts against a surface 18 of 'a saddle 19 thatfits on the supporting rail 42. The saddle 19 has side members 8|, bestshown in Figures 10 and 12,

that extend down beyond the bottom of the supporting rail 42. lower endsof both of the side members 8|, and

There are holes 82 near the steel wedges 83 are driven through the holes82 in such a manner as to clamp the saddle l9 firmly against thesupporting rail 42. The steel wedges 83 can be driven out to release thesaddle 19 when it is to be moved into a different location along the wayrail.

The distance that the cradle can be displaced by the jack I6 is,-o fcourse, quite limited, but the purpose of the jack [6 is merely toovercome the starting inertia of the cradle and oncethis is done thecradle is kept in motion by the pull of the cable 69. Figures 9 and 10show in broken lines the position that the head of the jacki'16"occupies when the jack is extended. This extension of the jack displacesthe metal cap 1'! from the solid line position to'the broken line M p 16construction to'the forward end section 65 except I position indicatedin the drawings.

-ward' end ofthecradle] runner, and wedged against displacement bythesteel wedges 83. The

correct position for the saddle 19 depends upon the length of the jack[6 when its ram'is contracted. :.,Openings in the guide rails 43 areprovided at the regions where the saddle I9 is to be used. There aresimilar jacking means behind both runners of the cradle as indicated inFi 7.

Thetdrydock Zl'is shown in Figure 13 and comprisesa pontoon 86 with wingwalls 81. The dry. dock hasa deck 88, and way rails 28- supported byuprights 90 and diagonal bracing 9l- '6: onthe deck: 88." The subaqueousstructure :29

includes piles 92w-iththeirlower ends embedded in the ground-and theirupper. ends. connected by longitudinal members 93 on which the bottom ofthe pontoon '86 rests when partially flooded. The dry dock way rails 28extend somewhatbeyond the end of the pontoon on an outrigger platform 94shown in Figure 14. The platform 94 is preferably provided withconverging sides to assist in centering the dry dock in its slip.

The dry dock slip does not'have continuous sides in the illustratedembodiment of the invention. The term slip is used herein to denotepiling or pile supported structure for confining the dry dock or carrieragainst lateral movement.

The slip includes groups of piling 96 and connecting facing with whichthe dry dock is in contact when its ways are in line with the waysonshore. Figure 3 shows mooring cables 91 for holding the dry dock 21 inthe slip.

. a Although the runners 46 of the cradles or on the cradle. Figure 16shows pins 98 and 99 that extend through holes in the runner 46 and rail42 respectively. These pins project from the sides of the runner andrail and have eyes into which a connector I fits to join the pins 98, 99and lock the cradle 24 against movement lengthwise of theway rails. v

Obviously, several sections instead of only one can be started on thefirst cradle 24 at the left, Figure 1. In fact, if delivery to the waysis fast enough, each cradle can be supplied with enough sections, all atonce or at different times, to complete several ships simultaneously.can then be moved one by one upon the dock, and the whole row launchedvery quickly. The essence of the invention is the construction ofseveral ships at the same time upon separate supports or cradlesarranged in convenient locations to receive the sections of which thehulls are made, and the launching of the ships as fast as theyarecompleted. The number of sections received by each cradle at any timeand joined thereon may, of course, be varied in practice, depending uponthe speed and amount of material delivered and working conditions atdifferent points along the ways as operations proceed.

The preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, butchanges and modifica- The ships dry ldockzart such a level thatwwhen tbefiry :dock

is submerged runtii itgrestszzon said supporting means, "the Ways entheadzry (look are :at the levelof theways onshore. y

2..A:"pparatus for transferring .a. loaded iconveyance from rails .onshore to the rails on a deck of a floating vessel, said apparatuscomprising centering meansofor locating the vessel with the ends of itsrails in line with the rails on shore, and supporting means embedded inthesubaqueous soil .and., extending under at least a portion of thevessel for supporting the vessel when gpsnt'iwl-ly submerged byflooding, the level of thesunpertimg mes-ms :being such that when thevessel is resting on :said supponting means the rails man the vessel areat the level of the miglsun thmshore. d

3, Ammratus for eonstmeting :ships on vshore and fer placing them thewater, said apparates :eemmfising eontimmous ways long enough for thesmultalneous construct-ion of [a number of ships, 3 number "of difierentcradles on the ways and movable ra-lon-g the ways :for support- {the'respeefiive shims, e -.floati-n-g dock at I one 'o rzt'he ways, :a slimfor-centering the daey doek in (line with the ways, nail-mg :in thesurbaquedus soil that is under the dry dock when the ,dry ock isr n h lp hmdzontzul supponts eel-med the pill-mg at such 'a, level that thefleet-mg dry dock when partial-1 v flooded and resting on the horizontalsupports is :at :a, :llevel for direct tmanster of a cradle from saidways to time "dry dock.

' EREDEREC

